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Found 8 results

  1. "I don't know how to fix this." Let's do things differently this time. Like, so differently. Every good story starts with a question. It's a simple question really, but in recent years hollywood has done a terrible job of asking this one question. In fact it just might be the one thing that could save the hundreds of mediocre movies that are released and forgotten every year. It's a question I ask myself every time I start a story, and it's a question I keep asking myself until I finish it. It's the only thing that makes writing worth it. That question is: Why do I care? It always starts with the storyteller, asking himself "Why do I care about this story?" If you're an author --or even just a reader-- you may understand the type of commitment it takes to write a story, but a film like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is much harder to produce even than a book. So why did the creators decide to tell this story when they could have told any other. Why did they invest a hundred million dollars on these characters? But this question has two sides, and the other side of the question is on us, the viewers. Whether we like it or not, from the second a movie begins every viewer is unconsciously asking themselves the exact same question. "Why do I care?" Why should this fictional story matter to me? These are characters that don't exist, so why should I care what happens to them? Ultimately, that is the question that decides who likes a movie. Marvel movies have been suffering lately because nobody quite remembers why they should care. Marvel expects us to care about these characters because they had a cameo in a previous movie, or because they're related to characters we do love. They expect it's enough that we recognize the character's name, and they forget to give us any reason to care. And so many people don't. "Superhero fatigue" is getting worse all across the world as people get tired of seeing generic characters that they can't relate to, and seeing recycled plots that barely matter. And so for months I've sat down in movie theaters, asking myself why do I care? And the sad answer is... I don't. I no longer care about the MCU. I no longer care about the Star Wars universe. And my apathy comes from those writing the stories. If they knew why they were telling those stories, maybe they could convince me to care too. But I almost feel like Marvel barely cares about their stories anymore, only caring about their algorithm and their box-office numbers. And that is why Across the Spider-Verse surprised me so much. For the first time in a long time, I care. In fact, I care deeply. The characters in this beautiful movie are characters I'd follow forever. So what made this movie different? Why do I care so much, and relate so deeply to characters that won't ever exist in reality? Across The Spider-Verse starts differently from the very beginning, and the opening scene of the movie is only a hair's breadth away from perfect. We're introduced to a character we thought we knew. It turns out... We didn't. Gwen isn't the girl we thought she was. But this movie does something absolutely brilliant. It doesn't introduce us to Gwen by talking about her, the movie starts with her talking about someone else entirely. His name is Miles Morales. He was bitten by a radioactive spider. And... He's not the only one. That phrase, "He's not the only one," becomes a theme that follows every sentence Gwen uses to describe her best friend. But even at the very beginning of the movie she's telling his story, instead of her own. That's when the movie hooked me. Because I think we can all relate. Every day starts with the same question. I ask myself this question at the beginning of my day, and I keep asking myself until I get to the end. Why do I care? Why does it matter if I get out of bed, who would notice if I just lay here forever? Why should I go to school, or work, when it'd be so much easier to just give up? Every day the answer to that question is different, and some days we don't have an answer at all. Some days we don't even care enough to get out of bed, and I know I've felt the weight of my own mistakes, or inability to do the most simple things, and in my head I cry out I can't do this alone. Or like Gwen Stacy, at the end of the opening scene in Across the Spider-Verse, I find myself whispering I don't know how to fix this. I think that's what Across the Spider-Verse is really about. The first movie's theme was "anyone can wear the mask" but the sequel asks the question "why would you want to?" Being Spider-Man costs everything. So why is it worth it? What are you fighting for? Miguel O'Hara gives Gwen Stacy something to care about, tossing her a watch and muttering "Join the club." But even more importantly, he gives her something to believe in, because she can no longer believe in herself. That cause --the preservation of the multiverse-- is enough for Miguel. But... it's not enough for Miles. For some reason, he's different. He begins the movie by telling his story, and concluding with the statement sometimes I just wish I wasn't the only one. Miles is also searching for a reason to fight, for something to believe in, but he's not like the others. He doesn't find that in the spider society, or in the preservation of the multiverse. He finds it in his dad. And also in himself. This place isn't what I thought it was. [...] People keep telling me how my story is supposed to go. But nah, I'm gonna do my own thing. Gwen is too scared to tell her own story, so even at the beginning of the movie all she believes in is Miles. But Miles is different. At the climactic moment of the movie, Miles realizes who should be telling his story. And the strangest thing... others begin to follow him. My first time watching, I found it a little annoying how everyone around Miles was perfectly happy to forsake the fate of the multiverse to help him, but I think I understand now exactly what they were feeling. They were tired of telling their own tragic stories of failure. They were all thinking I don't know how to fix this. So it only took one person who was willing to stand anyway, to give them something to believe in. Suddenly they all found themselves believing that it was possible to change the cannon. For the first time ever, they started to hope they could write their own stories. I've wondered before how we can care so deeply about characters that aren't real. They shouldn't matter to us, but for some reason they do. I think Miles is the answer to that question. We care because characters like miles show us hope we don't have in ourselves. They give us something to believe in. They're another story we can tell when we're too scared to tell our own stories of failure over and over and over again. They make us believe that we can change the cannon, be someone different. Someone better. But... You can't tell someone else's story forever. You can't spend your life only believing in other people. And the best part of Across the Spider-Verse, is that even Gwen realizes that. At the end she says that she always wanted to join a band, but never found the right one. And so she made her own. Stories give us something to believe in when we feel like we can't believe in ourselves. But I want to tell you that you can believe in yourself. You write your story. I truly believe that. I know how it feels to fail over and over and over again. I know how it feels to not even care enough about your life to get out of bed. So if you can't believe in yourself yet, I'll just say that I believe in you too. And when I get frustrated trying to write my story, I'll believe in yours. It's been a while since I've posted an essay, and this is an essay I meant to finish a lot earlier, but for an essay about finding something to care about and believe in, I found I cared very little about it for the longest time. After seeing this movie for the fourth time, I finally feel like I was ready to write this. It's still a little all over the place compared to my other essays, but I hope you can tell that this is something that matters to me. And so, thank you. I love knowing you guys care about my thoughts. It inspires me every day. I know these are long, so thanks again for taking the time to read the ramblings of another absurdly busy author. I hope to hear your thoughts too!
  2. Well, I have officially returned to the Shard, and I’ve decided to revive an old flame. While I think the Random Twinborn Combos thread has run its course, I still think there are unanswered questions to still address. Namely: what metals and abilities are the best? So this will be a daily thread regarding the feruchemy side of things, aka the more interesting side of the question. We’ll be going by the feruchemy table, so that means starting with F-Iron and working our way down. For simplicity’s and relevance’s sake, I’ll be assuming the person in question is a Ferring, and not a twinborn, feruchemist, or hemalurgist. As always, I welcome and actively request your thoughts. At the end of it all, I will create a ranking that we can pick apart. So without further ado, let’s get started! Daily Feruchemy Analysis Day 1: F-Iron wow we are starting off with a banger. This is probably the most documented metal we have, with a whole four books of pov to go off of. It also happens to be really rusting powerful. Obviously this has nice effects with many allomantic metals, but that’s not what this is about. What can this do on its own? well, a lot of things really. While storing, you can make yourself very light, which means you can survive any fall and, presumably, move faster in general, as your muscles are moving a lower body weight than it’s used to. Now, I don’t think you’ll be crazy fast, but probably faster than normal. Plus, storing weight is almost certainly going to be the initial basis of space travel. So there’s that too. Oh, and the possibility of being a decent investiture to energy machine. Tapping weight gets interesting. As we’ve seen from Wax, it makes you a pseudo-pewterarm. Strategically tapping to tank hits and to deliver power hits. Great stuff. Frankly, I don’t think there needs to be much more analysis on this. Relatively straightforward metal, with both martial and common uses. Certainly crazy scientific uses. Overall just a really good metal to have, and certainly very strong. Rating: 8.5/10. Awesome stuff.
  3. "Why do we tell stories?" You are all readers, so you've all undoubtedly read countless books in your lifetime. Books that you enjoyed, books that you loved, and... books that you've forgotten. I wish those groups never overlapped, but when I was looking back on my reading history the other day I ran into tons of books that I remember enjoying, but are doomed to forever be forgotten. And yet every once in a while a story comes along that changes you. A story that means so much, something so incredibly personal, that it just won't let you go. Those are the stories we remember. Five days ago, I finished reading the ebook files for Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. I've never forgotten a book in five days, so it may not mean that much when I tell you that Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is a story I remember, so I'll say this instead: Yumi and the Nightmare Painter was one of the most satisfying journeys Brandon Sanderson has ever taken me on. It's not just a book I liked reading, it's a book I want to think about. It's beautiful. Every part of that story had me hanging on the interactions between those two main characters, Yumi and Painter. Every quiet moment, every conversation, had me loving these two characters. But though this book was a masterpiece of character development, and a study on how to write a romance that feels believable, there was something more to the book, something that made me want to remember it forever. To figure out what it is, I think we should start with the ending. (So if you haven't read it I honestly don't know what you're doing here...) I know there are people on the Shard and otherwise on the internet who will say that the ending of Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is unrealistic, and would have wanted it to end with Yumi's death. I know your type, those people who hate happiness and just want an ending that proves that stories are sometimes sad, and an ending that goes against the normal "happy ending" cliche. (I'm talking to you, Wit. And obviously Dan Wells, but that goes without saying.) There will be others among you that dislike the ending because it's too much of a fake out, making some people (but definitely not me, because I never feel emotions, so don't be ridiculous) burst into tears, just to burst into tears again when it turns out that Yumi is actually alive. (Again, not me.) So my question is: What's the point? Why did Brandon decide on this fake-out ending? Was it a simple "Gotcha, you thought she was dead, but turns out you're wrong!" Or was there more to it? I've always thought that the last line of a book should be twice as significant as the first. The first line, for all intents and purposes, is just clickbait. Make people intrigued, make them want to know more, etc. But the last line is what readers remember. The final tone. That last line, be it dialogue or narration, decides if the ending is happy or sad. I think it's no coincidence that the last thing Yumi says in the book is a plea to Painter. "Remember me." Those two words killed me. They broke my heart, right along with Painter's. And then I wanted to throw the book across the room when the next chapter was an epilogue. And the only question I could ask myself is: "What was the point?" My thoughts aligned perfectly with Wit's question in the epilogue. The same question I began this essay with. "Why do we tell stories?" I have finished five complete stories and started many others, but recently I've been feeling more burned out then I ever have before. I just finished writing my greatest book yet, and before revising it I decided to dive into the sequel. I've never had to write a sequel before, and suffice it to say it's the hardest book I've ever written. I wonder daily: "Will I ever finish this book? Or will it all go to waste. Am I supposed to be a writer? Because a writer could write a sequel..." And it goes on and on. The pressure feels incredible, because now for the first time in my life there are people counting on me. And so I keep asking myself the same question. What is the point? Why am I wasting hours upon hours writing stories, when I don't know if I'm a good enough writer for those stories to ever be seen? Why do these stories mean so much to me? I'm not writing for the money, and I hope I'm not writing in pursuit of fame, so why do I tell stories? Why do I spend hours writing essays that are probably only ever going to mean something to me? It wasn't until I read Yumi and the Nightmare Painter that I discovered the answer to this question. I write stories to remember, and just as importantly I write stories to be remembered. That may be equally selfish as writing for the purpose of becoming famous, but I want to be clear, it's not the same. I don't write stories to be known, I write stories to be remembered. It's not about having a crowd of admirers, it's a plea as simple and intimate as Yumi's plea to Painter. Remember me. And so perhaps Wit's question in the epilogue of the book could be restated, as "Why do we remember?" And that's a question which is much more complex, and much more interesting to me as a reader, and a writer. That's the question that I feel like the book is asking. What is the point of memories? "There's an old joke that mentions lost items always being in the last place you look for them. It doesn't say anything about memories though. Those, once lost, are the sort of things you don't even know to look for." As a society I fear we are often told to forget. Some people discourage the teaching of parts of history, because of the terrible things people did in the past. Governments cover past sins, because they don't want people to remember their mistakes. The same is true for the lies families tell about their ancestors. And perhaps the biggest and most crushing lie that I've heard people tell is the concept of "moving on." To many people all you have to do to move on is forget the past. Whether it be tragedy or bliss, no good comes from "dwelling on it" now. And... this is a lie that is so easy to believe that for years I told it to myself. I lost someone I loved, and for the longest time the easiest path was to pretend I'd never loved her in the first place. I couldn't remember her because it was too painful, so I told myself that I'd "moved on." In reality, I had forgotten. Why do we remember, when all memory brings, is pain? Maybe we all fondly remember brighter days, days when we were happy. And now we only wish our life could compare. What is the point? I suspect that Brandon Sanderson knew exactly what he was doing with the ending of Yumi and the Nightmare painter, because it's right where the story is at its most heartbreaking that he asks the most important question. And this entire beautiful book is the answer. It's not about the plot. Stories were never about events, they're about people. That's what separates a story I'll remember from one I'll never think about again. People are worth remembering. It was the characters that made Brandon Sanderson's third secret project memorable. It was Yumi, and her plea to remember. It was Painter, not giving up on her. But for him, it's more than remembering her. When bringing her back he tells her "I know you." I don't think a lot of people realize what "moving on" really is. It's not about forgetting the past, it's about remembering it. Knowing it. Not in the way you remember a painful event, but in the way you remember a great story. Once again in the words of our narrator wit, “Memory is often our only connection to who we used to be. Memories are fossils, the bones left by dead versions of ourselves. [...] Enjoy memories, yes, but don’t be a slave to who you wish you once had been. Those memories aren’t alive. You are.” Yumi thought she wanted to be remembered, but in reality she wanted to be known. That's what brought her back, not someone who remembered her but someone who knew her. Memories are snapshots, fossils, images of people we'll never really know. But stories? Those are something so much greater. They're somehow alive, even if the people inside them never will be. We all have our own story to tell. Every human on earth has a story. This essay is my last plea to you, remember. It's not about remembering me, who is nothing more than a profile picture to most of you, it's about remembering your own story. And that my friends is the answer to Wit's question. That's why we tell stories. Because every story is about a person who deserves to be known. And when I remember a masterpiece like Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, perhaps I'm really remembering my own story. And that's why it means so much to me. We don't tell stories for the endings, happy or sad, we don't tell stories for the plot, we tell them because that's how we remember, in a way that can actually change us. Even when the story was at its most heartbreaking, Yumi's story was worth telling. And even when it's at its weakest, your story is too. Thank you all, for taking the time to read the ramblings of a tired author, if you have any thoughts I'd love to hear them. I know it's unusual for people to post topics like this, but I've always been fascinated by themes, and it's rare that that aspect of a book is discussed. I love you guys, I hope you all have a great life.
  4. Something I just quickly wanted to bring to light: after three, gigantic books that have spent time focusing on him, we still don't know the entire story of why Kaladin distrusts lighteyes so much. While we definitely see his resentment beginning to dampen, the main causes are not all fleshed out yet. While the obvious ones (Roshone and Amaram) have been addressed, and their arc in his storyline almost, if not completely, done with, that still leaves ones example of betrayal in Kaladin's past that is unaccounted for. And that's where Katarotam comes in. If you don't remember that name, I can't blame you in the slightest as I forgot it myself since it was mentioned only one time in the entire series thus far. From The Way of Kings; Chapter 4, pg. 82: "Under previous masters, he'd demanded his wages be given to him. They had always found ways to cheat him- charging for his housing, his food. That's how lighteyes were. Roshone, Amaram, Katarotam . . . Each lighteyes Kaladin had known, whether as a slave or a free man, had shown himself to be corrupt to the core, for all his outward poise and beauty. They were like rotting corpses clothed in beautiful silk." However, even with this being his only mention the reader can see the obvious mark this man, Katarotam, left on Kaladin. This raises the question: Who was Katarotam, and what did he do? While from the text and timeline it's obvious to tell that Katarotam came into Kaladin's life during his enslavement, there is no way to tell the specifics of that as Kaladin said himself that he's, "changed hands a half-dozen times" (pg. 76) since his enslavement. Though with Kaladin choosing Katarotam to be among the men who has hurt Kaladin the most, we can assume that he had left a big impression and I therefore have three possible reasons for this: 1.) Katarotam was the first master to be over Kaladin. This would make sense as he would inevitable leave a lasting impression on Kaladin, and could even explain how he would manage to betray him. With Kaladin going from 'youngest squad leader in Amaram's army' to 'disgrace slave' in just one day, it would make sense that he wouldn't really know what to do with himself at first. And with no experience in surviving or even living the life of a slave, Kaladin would have no way of knowing what the average life of a slave would be. With that opening, he may have seen Katarotam as he once did Amaram: a man who cared for those under him. Perhaps Kaladin thought he got lucky and ended up with a master who was lenient, but later proved himself to be brutal? 2.) Katarotam was one of the most brutal masters This is one of the more simple reasons: Kaladin had suffered the worst of his times as a slave under Katarotam. This could still go in a number of ways though- with Katarotam being brutal because he was a horrible man, plain and simple, or being brutal specifically to Kaladin because he had heard of his escape attempts and wished to break him, or perhaps he noticed that Kaladin (a tall, well-built, natural leader) would ultimately bring hope to the other slaves and decided to use him as an example. While I'd say this is plausible, I don't think it's very likely as this leaves no room for betrayal, no room for Katarotam to hide himself behind poise and beauty as Kaladin specifically mentioned in the text. While those examples may refer specifically to Roshone and Amaram (though I don't see how it fits to Roshone seeing as he had it out for Kaladin's family at the beginning) the pause between the mention of Katarotam and the descritpors leads me to believe that most of it was inspired by Katarotam himself. 3.) Katarotam was the one to give Kalain the shash brand This is the most likely of the possibilities to me as the pain of the branding and the long term consequences it would have on his life would definitely be enough of a reason for Katarotam to be up with Roshone and Amaram. Not to mention the branding takes place just shortly before Kaladin's perspective starts in the first book, with his last master making the decision to brand him 'dangerous.' Not only does it make it recent, life changing, and painful, but it also opens Kaladin up to betrayal. This is where the reasoning would spread out a bit, with a number of possibilities being present to why Kaladin would consider Katarotam to be a prime example of how lighteyes are always different from how they prevent themselves. One reason could be referred back to reason 1, Katarotam had somehow convinced Kaladin that he cared for his slaves. Though this seems a bit flimsy to me, it could also be a good reason for how Kaladin can't even bring himself to fully trust low-ranking lighteyes. Another reason could be that Katarotam used bribery to earn loyalty from his slaves, promising them extra pay or even a chance at freedom if they do their work just right. This could to Kaladin to discovering he's a fraud, ultimately leading to the branding. These are just my thoughts, obviously we have very little to go off as he's only mentioned in one chapter but I do believe Katarotam will make an appearance in the form of a flashback in the next book (Slight Spoiler) - much like it did with Tarah- by that I mean her rarely being mentioned until we eventually met her in Oathbringer.
  5. Let's try this all again! There has been many a view on Shallan's romantic arc in Oathbringer (otherwise known as the infamous "love triangle"), and considering a recent poll shows one-third of this board remains unconvinced that the marriage of our young married couple is really all she (um, he) wrote, it appears there is still division on the topic. Two preliminary points: One, I changed the title to reflect my personal feelings on the importance of the characters in this discussion. "S" for our girl Shallan (it is her romance regardless of outcome after all), "K" for our main character Kaladin, then "A" for our tertiary character Adolin (sorry, Adolin fans, that's the word of the man himself.) Plus that spells Ska, which just happens to be a word used elsewhere in the Cosmere! Could this be significant? Let's discuss! (Kidding, even I'm not that crazy.) Two, here is a link to a document compiled by the intrepid @Ailvara during the prior discussion. This is a little out of date, but suggestions for edits (and also counterpoints!) would be much welcome. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VqLjiUojkPqIfLJLyu7OnykTP3i-LG0f5f1KjRSJE6A/edit
  6. Warning: This post discusses romantic relationships, so do not proceed if that it not your thing At Brandon's signing last weekend, we got an interesting WoB where a fan asked about Kaladin's proficiency with the spear... and Brandon ended up taking the conversation around to a Connection (appears to be Cosmere capitalized Connection) between Syl and Shallan. I am specifically interested in the latter point. The link for the WoB is here and text below, with the part about Syl and Shallan in bold. I'll discuss my thoughts after the text. The scene Brandon is mentioning is in WoR, text copied below, and I personally had no idea this was supposed to be Shallan. At the very least, this is a specific reveal that Syl "knew" Shallan, in a similar way to the fact she "knew" Kaladin prior to actually meeting her. (With hopefully a different outcome though! Don't know how I'd feel about Syl bonding Shallan... ) The context for this is that Kaladin is training his men in the chasms, and Syl is discussing the danger she faced in coming to find Kaladin. On the face of it, she is encouraging Kaladin that he is not alone, that other spren are struggling against the prohibition for bonding humans, and there will be other Radiants. Syl of course doesn't actually know Shallan, when Shallan finally shows up at the Shattered Plains, Syl doesn't recognize her, know she is a Radiant, or even sense Pattern except maybe vaguely at the 4v1 duel (there's a number of spren she could have sensed then though.) But something about the Connection between Shallan and Syl in the Spiritual Realm allows Syl to "see" Shallan in that moment. Brandon analogizes that moment to Kaladin's affinity for his spear and Syl and Kaladin's own bond. In other words... "fun Cosmere connections" language aside, it seems pretty significant. One of the things we see in OB is that Syl really likes Shallan. She encourages Kaladin multiples times to pursue Shallan, pushing against his own wishes; I would argue Kaladin would not have made even the (small) overtures he did towards Shallan if it wasn't for Syl's insistence. Syl and Shallan hang out in Shadesmar without Kaladin, including the fact Syl wants to remain with Shallan in Celebrant. (This is of course partially due to Shallan's lightweaving skills, but Syl at that point already had a lightwoven disguise.) Syl is also skeptical of Shallan's choice of Adolin at the end of OB, encouraging Kaladin to continue his pursuit, and indicating she can't see Shallan's "choice is made". All in all, we know Syl has a Connection to Shallan through the Spiritual Realm (where everything is one), and that these types of connections are "echoes" of events that are forming, not something as strong as "destiny", but still a definite "something is there." And since Syl is constantly pushing Kaladin towards Shallan, I think there's a great inference to made that Syl is "knowing" something about Shallan which is not yet explicit in real time in the Physical Realm. While not for certain (as nothing is until confirmed as such), the fact Brandon spontaneously brought this up in a question that had literally nothing to do with romance or Shallan at all, seems to be him pointing towards yet another piece of foreshadowing for Shalladin, one which was not apparent from the text, but he obviously seeded a long time ago.
  7. Hey there everyone! I've been doing little analysis of the Tor.com preview chapters as they've been coming out and I thought I'd make a place to find them here. I'll update this post with every new episode along with my notes (With a bit more structure to them). One of the reasons I wanted a place for them here is so that I can keep my notes in written form so it's easier for people to point out where I'm making my mistakes. Anyway, one with the videos! Walking to Urithiru - Part 0 - Introduction and Predictions Notes: Predictions Hints to Gavilars pre-radiancy bondsmithyness Look out of any Heralds Will we see the black sphere? Anymore info on the Parshendi? Walking to Urithiru - Part 1 - Prologue, To Weep Notes: Listeners had songs about humans that make them sound like Voidbringers (Specifically Midnight Essence). "dark, formless monsters", have the songs over time conflated the two enemies of the surviving listener people (Humans and Voidbringers) into one? Seems to me the biggest difference between dullform and slaveform is that slaveform don't hear the Rhythms, what happened to them to remove their ability to Listen? Gavilar with 5 people 2 Officers Amaram Maybe Restares 1 old robed dude Maybe Taravangian Maybe just an ardent 2 Women If Restares, maybe Restares wife If Taravangian, maybe Adrotagia Maybe Vivenna Eshonai makes the connection between Listeners and Fabrials way quicker than any of us did Listener gods must be the Unmade, Do the Black Spheres contain the Unmade? Maybe just one, split apart? Is this simply a sphere of voidlight? Gavilar notices Eshonai humming to the Rhythm of Anxiety and tells her to calm down. Not only does he hear the humming, he recognizes the Rhythm as Anxiety. Can Gavilar hear the Rhythms? Gavilar seems to think that a single spren being captured is what turned the Voidbringers into slaveform. is one Unmade really all it took? Is it free now? Void light - somehow related to forms of power Klades one slave just happened to be Szeth? And obviously-evil Venli was with him? Voice in the Rhythms? Eshonai left the Shattered Plains to see the world. Upon seeing a map of the world, she mourns Did Gavilar intend on betraying the Parshendi or did he plan on allying himself with Voidbringers? Sad ending Walking to Urithiru - Part 2 - Chapters 1, 2 and 3 Notes: Starts with Oathbringer quote, author might be Sunmaker (past) Dalinar (future) Start with Dalinar vision - Six days after arriving at Urithiru Dalinar can now summon visions at will, I assume large building size shimmer is the Stormfather, was he always there? Dalinar noclips to skybox where he finds an easter egg Dalinar sees golden light, black shardplate and 9 shadows Golden light = Odium Black Shardplate = Odiums Champion 9 Shadows = 9 Unmade Black Shardplate - This is the first we've ever heard of this. This makes the voidlight theory stronger for the Black Sphere. Alternatively, what if the Black Sphere is actually a physical manifestation of Odiums Investiture and the Black Shardplate is made out of this? (Odiumian ugh) There's a familiarity for the figure in Black Shardplate, Dalinar recgonises something The person Adolin? Eshonai? Dalinar himself? Feelings Hate? Destruction? The Thrill? Davani have a chat Mention that Oathgates need to be activated on both sides. First, this means the Oathgates were intentionally deactivated and not just stopped being used. Second, only the gates on the far side were deactivated, no one was around to activate the Urithiru side of the Urithiru-Stormseat gate Scout fetches Davani Adolin is ordering people about to avoid thinking about his problems Urithiru becoming a city Rushu turns up, she is Navanis favourite Ardent before Shallan turned up, might be Vivenna? Sadeas Body - Scout is mentioned again Dalinar notes the wound that killed Sadeas is not an assassins wound, but the killing blow that a soldier would do to a man in plate. Navani suggested assassin but Dalinar says nothing, does he suspect the people around him? Adolin? Dalinar looks at the people in the room - mention of the scout again, is she Vivenna??? Polana says what we are all thinking, good riddance. No one disagrees. Dalinar takes his entourage to a balcony, overlooking large plateaus surrounding Urithiru for Radiants to Growth crops Another mention of planter boxes. Adolin threw Sadeas' sword into one of these. Their mention again makes me think that the sword will be found soon (Setup, reinforcement, payoff). Sadeas sword is Oathbringer. Dalinar makes a little speech about uniting Roshar Little aside about Squires, their powers are lost with distance, but maybe time as well? Lopen healed his arm when one of them was on the Plains and the other in Urithiru. Powers fade like Stormlight Dalinar confirms Urithiru is above the storms Shin Invasions are mentioned, good to know as these were previously hinted at with Shubreth-son-Mashamalan Did the Shin do this when they first arrived? Dalinar flashback Dalinar being a bamf Some of that good Roshar stuff (rockbuds, laits) Dalinar is around 17 at this point Dalinar describes the Thrill as a "Rhythm of killing and dying", does Nergaoul simply open people up to a Rhythm as they naturally attune to it during war? Archer, black bow, black arrows (Unknown material) under command of Brightlord Yezriar specifically hired to kill Dalinar Dalinar did not snort or spit blood Young Sadeas is a scummy dude Walking to Urithiru - Part 3 - Chapter 4 Notes Epigraphs hint more towards the author Possible contenders: Sunmaker (Less likely now) Dalinar still possible - Especially after this chapter Many have suggested but the first person I saw say it was Pagerunner suggesting Jasnah - words like godless heretic and hanging between realms 8 Days for the Everstorm to circle round Navani writing her memoirs that become the Part 1 Epigraphs of WoR? Everstorm is new this time around Silent lightning? Is it Spren? Maybe like the mist not making things wet? Dalinar getting visions from the storm, Odium is aware of Dalinar. Could Odium have moved to Roshar finally and that's what the everstorm is? Rushu is mentioned again, Rushu is definitely Vivenna Chanada, senior ardent in the warcamps, told all the ardents to not marry Navani/Dalinar - Could be Vivenna Revelations about Dalinars wife (Won't mention her name). They married so Dalinar could get some Shardplate. Dalinar reveals to Navani he doesn't remember her and Navani works out that it was the Nightwatcher that did it. Circumstances of her death are "Something about a city in rebellion against my brother, and my wife being taken hostage? That… and a long march alone, accompanied only by hatred and the Thrill. He remembered those emotions vividly. He’d brought vengeance to those who had taken his wife from him." What did Dalinar do?! Going up to the roof, Urithiru has lifts! Only a handful operating out of dozens. Looking forward to it getting another. Description of Urithiru which I'm not going to get into as we are getting a diagram of it in Oathbringer. I have a feeling this big window pointing towards the Origin may actually have a purpose Dalinar nervous about getting married Mention of True Spren and subspren, this may just be the Stormfathers opinion though Still lots of Urithiru unexplored Bridge 13 are guarding Dalinar as Bridge 4 have been assigned to "other duties" as they are "close to becoming Radiants", bloody nepotism Navani is wearing red/gold so she gets added to the "might be Odiums champion" list Aladars duaghter is mentioned as being at the wedding, May Aladar is now being added to the "Might be Vivenna" list Stormfather rocks up, giving Dalinar the "detached" feeling that he gives people when he turns up (Kaladin has described this in WoK, Eshonai and Kaladin again in WoR) "First in Millenia to bind me", not gonna read too much into this but does this mean the Recreance was about 1000 years ago? Davani get married Kadash has an issue with this - he implies he knows of bad things Dalinar did. Dalinar mentions that he hadn't thought about it this thing in years, meaning this is different to the Wife memory. Something bad happened at The Rift, Rathalas (Does anyone have any idea as to what this is?) Dalinar implies he's seen something higher than the almighty. "A warmth and a light" like his dream at the end of WOR? Walking to Urithiru - Part 4 - Chapters 5 and 6 Notes: Everstorm was at it's worst fighting a highstorm. I wonder if when the Highstorm and Everstorm meet again in the future, will it be as bad as the Shattered Plains (Huge sections of ground ripped into the air) Brandon seems to be signaling to us that this is not the case (multiple mentions of it not being as strong) Kals eyes are brown again, only go blue when summoning Syl. Not the use of Investiture, but summoning Syl? Hmm... Kal confirms that leaving Spheres out in the Everstorm does not charge them with Voidlight Weeping continues about half a day after the Everstorm passed. Seem Roshars meteorigical system hasn't been disrupted too bad Kaladin still refers to Moash as his friend, reminder that Roshone was sent to Hearthstone after convincing Elhokar to have Moash's grandparents, some rival silversmith owners, arrested and kept imprisoned until death. Dalinar wanted to strip him of power but he was instead sent somewhere "he couldn't do any more harm" New Spren, gloomspren. Rare for some reason Syl has an aunt? Roshones Parshmen were kept in a small structure in the garden. A single open space with benches for sleeping (Reminds me of the Skaa hovels). Kaladin feels a large hole ripped in the side. No idea what this means. We know that Parshmen that are left inside during the Everstorm won't change, but how "inside" do they have to be? If this hole was there beforehand, would it be enough to cause the parshmen to change? Kal reunites with his parents and I nearly cry Lirin and Hesina are maybe hiding something from Kal "our home still stands. We had to dedicate your spot to something else, Kal, but we can make space for you" and “Things have gotten better since you left [...] We can rebuild, be a family again. And there’s something else you need to know about. We-" Blightsong suggested to me that Hesina and Lirin may have another child Mara is mentioned, assuming Lirins new apprentice, a new girl moved in from elsewhere? Kal says these wounds are of a natural disaster, not an attack, where did the voidbringers go? "Moelach moves westward" - Could the voidbringers/Parshmen be drawn in that direction too? Syl remembers Kal as a kid. We know something was watching Kal as a kid because of his skill with the staff as soon as he picked it up. Syl says "there was… another voice. Pure, with a song like tapped crystal, distant yet demanding…" - The context isn't too great. We don't know whether this means the voice of someone watching Kal and calling to her (Authority among the Honorspren? Cultivation?) or another proto-radiant? Tien? He didn't seem very Windrunner Kal punching Roshone was great Ending on Kal once again calling Moash his friend Walking to Urithiru - Part 5 - Chapters 7, 8, and 9 Notes: I feel the Epigraphs are slightly less likely to be Jasnah. As this is only the preface, I think we aren't going to see any of Oathbringer the actual book, but we are going to find out what it contains and why it was written Kaladin refers to Urithiru as home Seems the Parshmen did transform and then left, I still think they are heading west. "Some of the older spren have four genders instead of two" - A reference to the Roshar of old, where Listeners were the only sapient creatures on Roshar and Brandon classified their 4 genders as Male, Female, Malen, Femalen Hearthstone has a spanreed! Turns out Laral is just really bad at picking up the blinking ruby Kaladin has a baby brother! One year old Oroden Kaladin leaves Hearthstone, showing everyone the Radiants had returned Syl forms a Shardspear, which is badass Chapter 8 - A Powerful Lie We open with Shallan struggling to draw Urithiru. I find this strange as it's just a big building, why can't she draw it? Perspective might be wrong but then just draw it on a smaller scale? Female Scout appears. She has now been identified as Lyn, the character that Brandon named after a redditor who posted on Reddit saying she wanted to live on Roshar. Probably not Vivenna Shallan pretending to be an Elsecaller so people don't work out she can cast illusions Hathams army where red and gold, Hatham is definitely Odiums Champion Shallan joins Adolin, Renarin, Dalinar and Navani in chatting about unifying Roshar and Renarin is cold for some reason "He wore his Bridge Four uniform, but had a blanket over his shoulders and was holding a cup of steaming tea, though the room wasn’t particularly cold. " Why? Tezim, a warlord in Tukar, claims to be an aspect of the Almighty. maybe a Proto-bondsmith? Argent suggested maybe Ishar, I'm not sure, could be a Herald though I hope the irony of Adolin saying only Dalinar could intimidate the forces of nature is not lost on everyone Dalinar starts pulling on Shallan. She feels "A leaping within her, as if part of her were being pulled by him." She describes it as a "tugging" She breathes in light, breathes it out on the map, the light then passed between her and Dalinar before becoming a huge map of the Rosharan continent Dalinar says the Stormfather did this, that "It wasn’t me or you, but us. " - almost exact way that Syl describes how the Nahel Bond grants powers to Kaladin. Bondsmiths must be able to create bonds with other Radiants and use their surges somehow Dalinar mentions to Odiums champion, black armor, red eyes, 9 shadows. Renarin is aghast at this. RENARIN, TALK, TELL SOMEONE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING List of all the Oathgates: - Azimir, in Azir - Shinovar - Panatham, Capital of Babatharnam - Rall Elorim, City of Shadows in Iri - Kurth in Rira - One lost in Aimia - Jah Keved - assumedly Vedenar cause it's capital - Thaylen City in Thaylenah - One on the Shattered Plains - Last one in Kholinar still no word from Kholinar, I'm guessing that city is fuuuuucked Interesting that Navani says that Aimia itself, the island, was destroyed. Chapter 9 - The Threads of a Screw Both Jofwu and Argent have commented on how it's very unusual how much emphasis is being put on the strata patterns on the walls. I had thought it was just Shallan showing off she is getting more comfortable around... Patterns... but the fact this chapter is named this is interesting The exact quote is "The strata here spiraled, twisting around the floor, ceiling, and walls like the threads of a screw. It was striking enough that Shallan took a Memory of it for later sketching." end quote Why is this the name of the chapter? Shallan seems both at home at Urithiru and also put off by it, it's very strange Find a copycat killer - killed one of Sebarials officers 2 possibilities 1. Someone knows Adolin did it through magic means 2. Someone is taking the oppurtunity to pin a murder on someone else If 1, it's gotta be Renarin, if 2, it'll be Ghostbloods or Sadeas widow, Ialai Person must have had access to the body before it was moved, so either Bridge 4 (doubtful) or Sadeas troops Seems other soldiers are referring to Bridge 4 as "the windrunners" Brandon made special note of how specifically sketchy Renarin is being in that room Renarin staring at Adolin, I feel like Shallan knows something is up with Adolin and is going to accidentally draw the scene or something and Renarin may already know that it was Adolin who did it via his "visions" Walking to Urithiru - Part 6 - Chapter 10 Epigraphs for Chapters 10 and 12 "Perhaps my heresy stretches back to those days in my childhood, where these ideas began. I ask not that you forgive me. Nor that you even understand." Okay, I haven't spoken much about the actual content of these prefaces, but what does it mean by "I ask not that you forgive me or understand"? What is the point in writing this or having some read it if not for them to understand something. I guess it could just be to recount events that you want people to know but this seems like a far more thoughtful peice than just a recounting of events. Hmmm Chapter 10 - Distractions Kal is searching area in a spiral moving outwards from Hearthstone to find the Voidbringers Mentions Gumfrems, a chull like beast that is killed for its Heliodor gemheart. I have long suspected all species "native" to Roshar have a gemheart and this gemheart allows them to bond with spren in some way and live on Roshar. Good to hear that there are other fauna than just greatshells and Listeners that have gemhearts Syl and Kaladin have a conversation about Syl having Spren children, she talks about how the Stormfather made some of them (Honorspren), helped shape them. Syl talks about how she would teach the little spren to fly and annoy Kaladin. I wonder if we're getting a glimpse into what seperates "truespren" and "subspren", like could a windspren be turned into an Honorspren if raised by another honorspren? Or is Syl just being silly? Kal calls Syl a Sylblade when she's in sword for and interestingly, she has a the windrunner symbol for a hilt, with lines of metal making the shape. I find this interesting because none of the other blades have been described as having this kind of hilt. Spoilers for next chapter but Renarins is described as quite simple and Shallans never makes any reference to any flowing lines like the Lightweaver symbol. Is Kal just SUPER Windrunnery and all the other radiants just filthy casuals? So Kal turns up and becomes a menagerie for everyone, encouraging everyone and stuff before being informed that the village was attacked by the voidbringers. The voidbringers had attacked a grain silo with a group of about 50 of them. Kal chats with a female ardent who very much has a crush on our rugged, moist hero in blue. She's going on the might be Vivenna list just in case... She talks about how a group of 50 were chased away by only a handful of people, but this is very strange as they could have taken the town easily. I'm assuming the voidbringers are basically under almost the complete control of an Unmade or Odium himself and he's trying to preserve and gather his forces as absolutely as quickly as possible, hence the lack of attacking and not even bothering to risk a single soldier to a little town in the middle of nowhere. Odium knows he's going to need every Listener possible this time around. She mentions that only a few red lights were seen from the group and this has led me to believe that the voidbringers are not in Stormform or Warform. She says that the witnesses described some red lights but not enough to be their eyes. They don't have glowing red eyes. They aren't in Stormform. They do have SOME glowing red lights. I believe these are the single glowing comet-like spren that Eshonai describes flitting about her head after she changes into Stormform. Warform does not produce this comet-like Spren. So, they aren't in Stormform, and they aren't in Warform, what form are they in? I do think it's a voidform as I think that's whats required for the little spren, but other than that I can't say. Syl and Kaladin have a little chat about Kaladins sex life and Syl seems to like to watch. Kaladin does wonder what Radiants Spren do whilst their Radiant is having sex and I do think it's an interesting question. It's just a strange situation for everyone involved really. We then find out where the Parshmen are heading to Kholinar... Which is to the East of both Hearthstone and Kharbranth. I feel like Kholinar is super messed up. Not only do they have a incompetant Queen, not only were they rioting to all hell, not only did it most likely have one of the largest populations of parshmen, but now it seems all the parshmen in Alethkar are heading their way! Honestly, at this point, I'm extremely worried about Ehlokars son. So we now have a switch to Adolins point of view. Adolin is hanging out with Gallant after losing Sureblood in the fight against the Stormforms on the Shattered Plains. They do seem extremely intelligent. Renarin joins Adolin and mentions that Ryshadiums have stone hooves. I don't think they are "native" to Roshar but they are definitely a lot more adapted to life on Roshar than a normal horse. Either Ryshadiums came to Roshar long before the current crop of humans/horses or they were changed once the Shards arrived. At this point, I wouldn't be surpised to learn they have a gemheart. Renarins had an interesting comment, it seems he's worked out that your standard horse doesn't fit on Roshar. Renarin tries to give the Shardblade that Adolin won for him back and Adolin realises that Renarin has his own blade. Renarin summons it and as I mentioned before, this one isn't big and fancy, just a long thin wavey sword with no crossguard. Renarin has a little moment where he talks about struggling to fit in and it's just the most adorable thing. Poor Renarin We then see Renarin breath in some stormlight and heal Adolins wrist, but something else happens here. The quote is: "A pulse of Radiance washed through Adolin, and for an instant he saw himself perfected. A version of himself that was somehow complete and whole, the man he could be. It was gone in a moment, and Renarin pulled his hand free and murmured an apology." Now, this sounds a lot like Allomantic Gold, Electrum or Malatium doesn't it? What I think is happening here is either: A) This is simply how Regrowth works as this is just the first time we've been in a PoV of someone it's being used on, so when Lift heals people, it shows them their perfect self too as something the body is trying to aim for This is a little bit of the Illumination surge leaking in and it's giving Adolin a vision of what his body is trying to heal (That's Heal with a capital H) into C) A persons perfect self is one of the things Renarin can "see" as he puts in WoR and he was just showing it to Adolin Whatever these options are, I'm pissed because my theory has been completely thrown out with the bathwater and I'm back to square one with Renarins weird futuresight abilities. Any replies are encouraged! Point out stuff I got wrong, maybe stuff I missed. I'll update this post for every video added. Thank you for your time! Walking to Urithiru - Part 7 - Chapters 11 and 12 Chapter 11 - The Rift 33 years ago - a year after the last flashback Dalinar has managed to win himself some Plate of his own in what sounds like a less than official duel. Looks like Kaladin isn't the only one to kill a Shardbearer with no Shards of his own. You may remember that Dalinar actually married for a set of Plate but this was not the one he personally uses, Adolin actually receives this Plate eventually as mentioned in Chapter 14 of Words of Radiance. This flashback focuses on the attack on Rathalas, The Rift. This was the occasion that I believe Kadash was talking about that caused him to join the Ardentia. Annoyingly, I wondered where Rathalas was in Part 2 and it's RIGHT THERE ON THE ALETHKAR MAP. I need to be better for you guys, I apologise. I also guessed that this event was seperate to the wife event and I'm glad it seems that way. Dalinar, Gavilar and Sadeas take the walls of Rathalas before Dalinar falls for a trap and falls down the rift in the ground that Rathalas is seated in. This is a nice little call back to the first flashback where Sadeas says not even a rockslide could kill Dalinar. Dalinar surives the fall and eventually makes it to engage the citylord Tanalan. He is a Shardblade owner and the Shardblade he owns is the titular Oathbringer. Dalinar engages Tanalan and eventually forces him to retreat to a hidden room holding his wide and 6 year old child. The child is wielding Oathbringer and we fade to black. Now, there's been some arguments about whether Dalinar actually killed the kid or not. He says he's ashamed of what he did. Gavilar even mentions he killed their highlord and the heir so it can't be JUST that he killed the child, Dalinar knows Gavilar knows and yet still mentions that he'd be ashamed if Gavilar found out what he did. The chapter ends with Dalinar ruminating over a "brave boy crying". Now, I see two possibilities. Dalinar didn't kill the boy and is ashamed of taking his Shardblade without killing him, which could be seen as Dalinar getting soft which is why he's ashamed. The other option I find is that Dalinar took care of the child and Tanalans wife in a very brutal and unsavioury manner. Alethi glorify war and martial prowess but they do look down on excessive violence. I find this second one more likely in my opinion. One thing I do find strange is that Kadash is present for Dalinar and Gavilars chat but not at any time beforehand. If this is the event that caused Kadash to leave their army and become an Ardent, we must be return to this event to clear up what Dalinar did and why it caused Kadash to leave. Last little tidbit from this chapter is that the Sunmakers name was Sadees. Sounds like Sadeas's family may be descended from him. No wonder he joined up with the Kholins conquest. Chapter 12 - Negotiations Open with Dalinar having a gander over the view from Urithiru. He has a chat with the Stormfather about the old Radiants and the Stormfather refuses to talk to him about the reason that the old Radiants broke their Oaths. Says it's best left forgotten. I have a feeling that the reason for this is because if the new Radiants knew, they would forgo their Oaths too. Dalinar goes to meet via spanreed with various world leaders. May Aladar get's mentioned again. We also get mention of Kalami and Teshav again. They were in Way of Kings and Words of Radiance so they won't be going on the Might be Vivenna list. Kalami's wards however... Azish are negotiating with the Voidbringers. The Thaylen voidbringers stole boats. Some think they are attacking these nations where they are strongest (Boats for the Thaylens, war for the alethi, diplomacy for the Azish) but I'm not convinced. I think they are simply taking advantage of the situations they are in. The Alethi voidbringers are simply heading for Kholinar because it's probably their strongest group right now, the Thaylens just wanted to get off that tiny island or deny the Thaylens their ships (Or both) and whilst the Azish think they are delaying the voidbringers with their negotiations, I think it's the other way around. During this scene, May Alader is mentioned like 4 times. I've got my eye on you May Elhokar seems to have made some realisations about himself, he even mentions he believes himself a liar. Is it possible he's admitted some Truths to himself? I have a feeling that Dalinar is going to give Elhokar the Honorblade to allow him to accomplish his mission. Taravangian messages saying he has a Radiant and is heading to Urithiru to accept Dalinars authority. There's no way this could go wrong. Taravangian's Radiant is female, VIVENNA?! Walking to Urithiru - Part 8 - Chapters 13, 14, and 15 "I ask only that you read or listen to these words. In this record, I hold nothing back. I will try not to shy away from difficult topics, or paint myself in a dishonestly heroic light. I will express only direct, even brutal, truth. You must know what I have done, and what those actions cost me." answers the question "Why bother writing this" - theory: Author did something bad, everyone thinks its good, this is to tell everyone what they did and why it's bad Three short chapters Chapter 13 - Chaperone Nearly nothing actually happens in this chapter, Adolin visits Shallan in the night Assumedly this is the last or second last night of the Weeping This chapter is hilarious and a suprisingly sexy for something Brandon Sanderson has written. You go Brandon Sanderson Shallan mentions that the walls can't be scratched by a knife, extremely strong stone or something more... cognitive? She'd drawn over 20 pages of drawings of the patterns on the walls, something definitely going on with those patterns Adolin mentions born under sign of nine, horoscope? MAY ALADAR MENTIONED AGAIN End on "Neither of us is going to mess this up" meaning they will definitely mess this up. Chapter 14 - Squires Can’t Capture Kaladin spies on some Voidbringers before being seen Voidbringers not in war form or storm form! I was right! small amounts of carapace so not workform but still with hair so not warform I saw Calderis from the shard point out that they don't seem to be speaking to any Rhythms "They spoke like Alethi. Not a hint of an accent. With his eyes closed, he wouldn’t have been able to tell these voices from those of common darkeyed villagers from Hearthstone" Kal is spotted by a yellow ribbon spren who seemed to have been on the lookout. Kal realises they are not warriors of any type and surrenders Chapter 15 - Brightness Radiant Adolin trains Shallan in the Blade MAY ALADAR IS MENTIONED AGAIN. SHE IS DEFINITELY GOING TO BE IMPORTANT Pattern is described as humming a lot. This line "Pattern hummed softly a tone she’d come to recognize as confusion." I know it's a stretch but does pattern hum to the rhythms? Shallan created a new persona called Brightness Radiant which is... interesting Pattern offers to die "“I can die, Shallan. I can go. They will send you another to bond.”" So if a Lightweavers Spren dies, do the Cryptics just send another? Reminder that Spren have cities in the cRealm. Is this true for all Spren and orders? obviously not Bondsmiths but still That's it, not much else to say! Short chapters this week. For comparison, these three chapters clocked in at 8k words combined, Chapter 11 and 12 were 6k words EACH Walking to Urithiru - Part 9 - Chapter 16 Including last weeks prefaces just for a little context - Preface The book Oathbringer will give the reader an experience? Maybe will tell others how to experience what the writer has experienced? Maybe a guide to becoming a Radiant? Assuming the author is a Radiant Chapter 16 - Wrapped Three Times Finally find out where the Honorblade is at! Warm to the touch, no other shardblade has been described like this Room is described as having no strata patterns, this kills any theories about only Shallan being able to see them Stormfather basically confirms that the Honorblades are pieces of Honor, gifted to the Heralds and are part of an Oath, assumedly the Oathpact. had WoB on this before, nice to get it confirmed in text We also get a confirmation that Shardplate is linked to Oaths. Theories that it's forged by another Order have lost points and theories that it's a gathering of cousinspren has gained points Stormfather is unable to break Oaths. Tagent about why the Stormfather can't stop the Parshendi from transforming into forms of Odium and why he may be stopping them from taking forms of Cultivation or Honor, this may be part of the Oathpact Seems the Stormfather is aware of Adonalsium, I wonder how much he remembers of being Honor? Seems Odium is bound by the Oathpact by his nature. He is unable to break his own rules. Shards are unable to act outside of their Shards Intent much so it seems to me that the Oathpact isn't just something of Honor. It's something Hateful, yet also Cultivates Stormfathers odd comments about Odium: This makes it sound like there's a way of fighting Odium directly to cause damage permanently and this is different to the Champions thing which simply buys humanity time. Time to do what, who knows? Will this simply be the start of a new regular desolation cycle? So yeah, the Honorblade is being kept in a hole cut into a sewerline. I wonder what the Shin would have to say about that. Stormfather seems to confirm something long suspected about the Honorblades. Brandon has once said that if the Honorblades granted other abilities, you would have to know about those abilities in order to be able to use them. Stormfather all but guarantees that the Honorblades grant more powers than just the Surges."Like a Herald, nearly" As I said last week, Dalinar is considering giving the Honorblade to Elhokars team if Kaladin doesn't make it back, which it doesn't look like he will. Dalinar chats with a rude bridgeman from bridge 13. He has a Kholinar accent but is a little pale. He has a habit of rolling a coin over his knuckles. I'm sure we've seen this habit before in people but don't know where. If this is ringing a bell with anyone else, please let me know either in the comments before, Discord, Shard, Reddit, Twitter, I very much suspect this bridgeman is someone we've met before. Navani invented the watch Return of Zahel! Dressed with his robe belt as per usual. Looks like Vasher didn't take this oppurtunity to leave and stuck around. Dalinar has a wrestle and whilst this happens, he says that the Thrill was "The open secret of Alethi success.", do only Alethi feel the Thrill? Dalinar has a sword fight with Kadash whilst talking to one of the Iriali Triarchs which is such a Brandon Sanderson scene Iriali claims Dalinar stole Adolins plate And we get a mention of Evi! Feels nice to be able to say her name freely. Her brother is mentioned too, seems she did have family. Dalinar seems to have overcome his NW curse: Last time we heard shshsh was in Chapter 4, just before Navani and Dalinar got married. Options for what could have happened, some of these are heavily dependant on what the NW boon/curse is 1. Stormlight has healed his memory 2. Getting married to Navani means she is now his wife so he will start to forget her 3. Now that he has "moved on", it no longer fit the requirements for whatever the boon/curse is (e.g. Take away the pain) 4. Shadowfaxes theory: Navanis combined Timerial/Painrial resonated, with help from Dalinars Bondsmithing ability to do... something with other surges healed his pain through time. Walking to Urithiru - Part 10 - Chapters 17 and 18 Chapter 17 - Trapped in Shadows Syl mentions that the voidbringers seem to be being led by a higher voidspren, like her. I just think this means it's a thinking spren like she is instead of a windspren who just does as they please Syl also mentions that some, but not all, of the voidbringers are able to see her. I wonder what the difference between the two is... Some interesting info on these Voidbringers. So it seems that whatever the black spheres did (because at this point I believe whatever was trapped in the black sphere, this was key to stopping the voidbringers from transforming) it took with it a piece of the parshmans Connection and Identity. A part of their souls was literally torn away and they were unable to connect with one another and weren't even really aware of who they were. They were aware that what was happening to them was very wrong though. Assumedly, this also stopped them from transforming too Seems the voidspren isn't in control. He's directing them, but it seems he can't force them to do anything. I'm starting to think these voidbringers aren't being influenced by Odium at all. They are just running from humans and theres some spren that are willing to help them who just happen to be of Odium Chapter 18 Shallan goes out exploring as Veil Gets drunk and hit on, uses her Stormlight to heal herself from drunkness Shallan doubting her actual memories as not real is A VERY BAD THING Shallan forces herself more into the Veil persona, which is very worrying. We've even had a bit of foreshadowing from Tyn in regards to this. In Words of Radiance she warned Shallan: Shout out to SLNC for finding that Shallan is falling apart mentally. She's running from her problems by pretending she's someone else, she's convincing herself she is those people, she's starting to doubt she's actually who she thinks she is. This girl is developing some serious Dissacciative disorder I should also point out that Niveo on Reddit believes that the bouncer at the All's Alley bar is Demoux as the bouncer is described as having a large scar going from his cheek, to his forehead to his scalp. In the purelake interlude in WoK, we get this description of Demoux "Wonder how he got that scar across his scalp, Ishikk thought" It seems our copycat murderer isn't just copying Adolin. Seems they are copying other murders too. Could this be an Unmade? Just a Spren? A voidbinder? Does it just copy once or does it just keep going? I feel this may be our introduction to the next Unmade The Oathbringer inside cover with confirmed Uritiru location. Shoutout to Argent & others who pointed out that in the last video I said we haven't seen someone with a Curse using stormlight before. We have and it's Lift. Depending on what her Curse is though, it may actually be healing her. If it's the age thing, this may be why she's started aging again. Walking to Urithiru - Part 11 - Chapters 19, 20, and 21 As per usual, here are the two epigraphs we got this week Blightsong did point out that the talk of Spices kind of implies that if the author comes from a Vorin nation, they are male. Obviously this puts Dalinar at the top of the list Chapter 19 - Subtle art of Diplomacy 31 years ago, Dalinar 19 Our conquering trio are having dinner with some people from Evi's brother Mention how prolonged sieges are rare in Vorin kingdoms due to soulcasters. Would have thought soulcasters would be more common in the west as they are close to Aimia Dalinar being Dalinar Turns out all 10 royal families are descended from the Sunmaker, not just Sadeas Dalinar goes for a walk in the middle of a highstorm to fetch his knife, casual StormStrider which Dalinar flips off. Mention that StormStriders have been mentioned in WoK and WoR when Kaladin was trapped out in a highstorm both times. Could be cognitive entities or Spren, could be of Honor or Odium, we don't know much I actually am starting to like young Sadeas and Ialais relationship We see Evi enter the room. I want to say now that I do not think that Evi is Vivenna. I know I said I was going to suspect everyone, but I do not think this. Dalinar kills an assassin and we end the chapter with Dalinar eating the pork with the knife he used to kill the assassin and agreeing to marry Evi Chapter 20 - Cords to bind Another chapter of Kaladin talking with the voidbringers about the moral quandary of whether slavery is okay. Parshendi are learning that as you gain more freedom, you also gain responsibilities and those responsibilities can bind you just as strongly as any rope or chain. Interestingly enough, Kaladin tells them he's not able to see the yellow spren and this surprises the Voidbringers, which implies they can all see it. Kaladin saw it last Kal chapter so I assume he is lying? Syl can sense highstorms. Bit convenient "Oh, I can do it now that I need to" Interesting perspective on the Oaths and Radiants. The Parshendi are people too, doesn't that mean the Radiants Oaths apply to them too? Is Honor just a massive racist or were the Pasrhendi as we know them not the voidbringers after all? Chapter 21 - Setup to fall Shallan wakes up the next day after a heavy night drinking I like how open about her activities as Veil Shallan is being with Adolin. Shows the amount of trust she puts in him already. Though I am worried it's going to bite her in the chull at some point Shallan realises that they should have run out of Stormlight so far. Why hadn't they? I have a feeling this is related to the fact Urithiru is a little in the Cognitive Realm. The light from Stormlight is leaking because it's leaking into the pRealm. If Urithiru is partly in the cRealm, the leak would be slower Also, I thought a Highstorm signaled the end of the weeping but I guess not. Should have realised this last week. Interesting to hear that two of the warcamps are still in operation and that their transformed Parshmen are marching to Kholinar. Kholinar is definitely becoming hub Good to see Brandon didn't forget about Shallans guards. I'm not going to call them Squires cause I'm not sure they are Shallan teasing Adolin about him being like his father and how he's hiding something. Shallan is absolutely going to work out that Adolin killed Sadeas and it's not going to go well. Reach their meeting with Ialai Sadeas, and standing with her is Mraize Possibilities with what Mraize is doing there: 1. He is undercover and works as an aide to Ialai 2. Ialai is a ghostblood 3. Mraize somehow controls Ialai At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Thaidakar is a title just like Mraize and Ialai is Thaidakar. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Ghostbloods got their hands on Oathbringer (Sword) in some way. Walking to Urithiru - Part 12 - Chapters 22, 23, and 24 Prefaces Okay, I feel like Dalinar is basically confirmed at this point. The mention that this person isn't a Philosopher and that the reader may be smarter than them makes it sound like it's not Jasnah. Again, generally just more meandering about how this is a simple recounting of events Chapter 22 - The Darkness Within Now, I was hoping we'd get this meeting from Adolins perspective just for some fun dramatic irony but instead we get something far juicier It appears Mraize has a pet bird. Now, obviously everyone immediately jumps to "This is an Aviar". I'm going to make some for and some against arguments cause I don't think we can simply jump to this conclusion. For: Mraize having a pet bird is weird, why would he have a pet bird? Does this bird grant special powers? This would explain why he has a bird We know Mraize is a worldhopper, he could have gone to First of the Sun and gotten himself an Aviar We know Mraize likes to collect things from other planets, getting an Aviar is a Mraize type of thing to do Why would he have this bird on him now if he is undercover, this seems like a very bad idea. Unless his undercover position requires he be granted a special ability, like one granted by an Aviar Shallan doesn't recognise the bird, maybe that implies it's not native to Roshar? Against - Why would he have a pet bird? When in disguise, you normally want to draw attention away from your most obvious attributes. If he went missing one day, someone might ask where "The guy with the bird" went instead of asking "Where did the horrifically scarred guy go" - Mraize is a Worldhopper but First of the Sun is hard to get to, as per the Arcanum Unbounded essay - Having a bird with you is a bad idea when undercover even if it's a magic bird. Especially if this is a magic bird you want with you when you aren't undercover - Shallan isn't very well travelled and so may not recognise all species of birds. Either way, I'm not super convinced it's an Aviar but I do get why people have latched onto that idea and I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Let me know what you guys think down below. Before we move on to Mraize and Shallans conversation, I would like to point out that Ialai is warming tea with heating fabrials. Urithiru is nearly all out of Stormlight but Ialai can't be without her tea! Makes a brit proud Things to note from Shallans conversation with Mraize Ialai is not a Ghostblood, Mraize is watching her Mraize is more than willing to accept Listener allies if their interests align with the Ghostbloods Mraize knows Shallan used the Ghostblood symbol the previous night Mraize seems to be under the impression Jasnah attacked them first. Jasnah did have an army of assassins and spies on her payroll so I'm not surprised. Mraize acknowledges that he feels the wrongness about Urithiru too. The idea that an Unmade is present has gained some weight for me. Mraize leaves Shallan with a promise of information on Heleran. Whether this information is on his death and Kaladins role in it or whether the information is that Heleran is alive, it could go either way. Both have dramatic implications that could take Shallans character down interesting arcs. I feel the Heleran being alive one is the slightly less likely one for me, purely because it would require quite a complex series of events to take place to really make sense. Notice that when thinking about Heleran, she feels the need to become Veil. Shallan came out of her shell alot in WoR but it feels like she's traded one shell for another Ialai says to look within Kholin ranks to find the murderer. Some think she suspects Adolin but her wording to me seems she actually might be trying to be helpful here We learn Amaram is leading Ialai's investigation. I wonder if he brought Taln with him? And we end on the highstorms returning! Chapter 23 Storming Strange Kaladin seems to really be feeling protective of these Parshendi, I'm going to stick him on the list of "potential Odiums Champion". He's right now really being prepped for fighting for the "other side" Kals group has gathered a few more, but they still seem to only have 1 voidspren with them Time to talk about the voidspren, and I do think it's a voidspren. Some people think it's more like a Radiant spren or something else. It's possible it's both and this is a Voidbinding Spren, we know nearly nothing about Voidbinding. She seems very condescending to me, other than the image of a girl she's exactly what I was expecting Her appearance is of a girl from Shinovar and she walks by stepping on stone. This is really messing me up. She seems to be specifically being... heretical. She's taken the appearance of a Shin and is then on purposely, EXPLICITLY, walking on stone. Few ideas, StoneSpren? HeresySpren? The only other spren of Odium we've seen has been StormSpren so I feel StoneSpren lines up with that... but it's just so very odd. They have a quick exchange which imply there is some higher authority present when they arrive at their destination which we are still assuming is Kholinar. I'm very looking forward to seeing Kholinar Chapter 24 - Men of Blood and Sorrow We start this chapter with Dalinar remembering Evi She had pale yellow hair, not golden, not true Iri, so DEFINITELY VIVENNA Evi memories are coming back slowly Seems the Weeping has lasted a lot longer than usual. This seems odd as if you count the days, as Jofwu has been doing, you'd find that unless there were several days between some chapters, which we've had no indication there is, the highstorms seemed to have restarted after 2 weeks as they should have. oh well https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Wdigy6ZNX4EGRAaUskfM0LXNANksyM1JintSn4yKSyM/edit#gid=2005334307 Taravangian turns up with Adrotagia and a little retinue We get another mention about how good a friends Taravangian and Gavilar were and I just want to say at this point I think we can pretty much confirm that it was Taravangian hanging with ole gavvy in the prologue Taravangian seems to be having an off day. I don't see why he'd pretend to be stupider than he is, on a good day he may appear to be weak of mind simply by reputation and on a very very good day, he wouldn't have the empathy to know to pretend. To me, it seems that he's having a mid to lower day. Not so bad they had to cancel the meeting, but bad enough that Adrotagia basically talks for him. For those that don't know, an apoplexy is basically a stroke. This is what Navani believed caused Taravangians weak mindedness. And in Taravangians retinue, we get introduced to Malata of Jah Keved! Shes's a middle aged woman who likes to wear gloves instead of a sleeve over her hand, she is a Dustbringer or Releaser as they like to be called. She likes to stay quiet and smirk at people. I don't think she's lying about any of this so far. Her Shardblade isn't described as weirdly spike like so I don't think this is Talns blade. It wouldn't make much sense for her to pretend to be a Releaser with a Stonewards Honorblade. Gonna add her to the Might Be Vivenna list anyway just in case Dalinar offers to send some troops to help out in Jah Keved but it seems even the parshmen from there are heading for Kholinar I've noticed in this chapter how much Dalinar talks about his memories of Navani. Like, he talks about them a lot. I'm not 100% on board with the Dalinar-forgets-Navani theories but I'm not gonna lie, I'm definitely starting to bat for that team I love how Navani is almost acting as a stand-in for us Sharders, She's asking questions, she's doing research, she is literally confirming/denying our theories by confirming/denying her theories. I was very happy to see this. Dalinar worrying that Malatas Shardblade is an honorblade and this exchange where Navani asks Dalinar to check with the Stormfather that he's not healing his memories, it just feels nice to have characters actually being smart Dalinar thinks he asked for his pain taken away, and that took his memories too. I wonder how much of this is accurate. Taking his pain away seems to imply that he would remember his memories if they no longer pained him, but also taking his memories would take the pain away, so what was his curse? I'm curious about the "strange glass panes" on the inner walls of this chamber they chat in. I'm SUPER curious about the missing pillars in the rooms. What could have been placed there? Giant gems for storing light? Statues of Ash? It's almost a certainty that Tezim is a Herald at this point. I'm going to link Argents "Corrupted Heralds" theory http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/61089-the-heralds-obsessed-with-the-divine-attributes/ What a great storyline to have Dalinar fight against not just the Herald of his own Order, but having the guy who created the Knights Radiant in the first place fight against the guy who is trying to refound them! Dalinar once again has to fight against the urges and pressure to just conquer everyone. I don't doubt he could do it, but hot damnation if it's not a good ethical quandary. And we end on Dalinar saying he views his memories of Evi with a fresh and dangerous perspective. I wonder what that means? And to end today, we have this stunning inside artwork for the American hardback of Oathbringer. Done by Dan Dos Santos, we have confirmation that these are inworld pieces of artwork. The man on the left is Ishar, the Herald for Luck, Patron to the Bondsmiths and the absolutely stunning piece on the Right is of Ash, the Herald of Beauty and the patron of the Lightweavers. We also know that the back pages will have artwork for Jezrien, Herald of Kings and Patron of the Windrunners and Vedel who is the Patron for the Edgedancers. All around, these pieces are beautiful and I really hope we have these in the UK copies of Oathbringer Walking to Urithiru - Part 13 - Chapter 25 Prefaces: Still think this is Dalinar and I think the person they killed was Evi. The blurb mentions that Dalinar seeks the past and the past contains secrets he must not know. Could this be referring to the memories of Evi? Chapter 25 - The Girl Who Looked Up One of the best chapters we've had so far Shallan exploring the unknown parts of Urithiru. As it is my belief that Urithiru was soulcast, I think these strata were either done for the aesthetics of the place, or were legitimately placed in there to help people find where they are. It's wierd for them to be mentioned so much if not for a purpose The story tells of a great wall seperating the lands of people from the storms and the bad things. The girl climbs the wall to find out what's on the other side. There, she finds steps. The wall was built to keep them out. They were the evil ones. She climbs down the steps and steals some stormlight. The storms come and destroy the wall as punishment. The Spikes that the girl climbs the wall with are from a drawing when Shallan was younger. She's able to create Illusions of things she doesn't even remember drawing. Now the white hair on the other hand, I feel this is important. We've had a few intances of white hair, Hoid, last weeks image of Shalash, the imagery of the wall and white hair brings forth memories of Elantris. This I feel is important for something. I have a feeling by the end of the SLA we're going to slapping our foreheads when reading this story for how obvious it's meaning is. Now, the theme of the story to me is the most important part. The idea that those who think themselves safe from evil are the evil things themself. Now, if you think of pre-humanity Roshar as a crab paradise with the Listeners, this story could absolutely be framing things as humans are the evil intruders, coming to steal stormlight. The only question this raises is what does the wall represent? I've also seen a theory that this is representative of the Radiants. I really liked this theory and kind of ran away with it myself. In my interpretation, once humanity first came to Roshar, they were initially unable to bond Spren (The Wall) but once humanity was able to start surgebinding via Honor giving the Heralds the Oathpact (Shalash even has white hair in that piece of art!), the wall was destroyed by the storms (The Desolations) and the humans were punished. This even works with the "parshendi are evil" thing (They thought those on the other side of the wall were evil but turns out they weren't, just as we are finding with the Parshendi right now) The last figure standing up and walking out has to be, for me, one of the creepiest moments in any of Brandons works so far, I literally gasped Firstly, I do not think this is a Kandra. I've seen it suggested but I don't like it. Firstly, a Kandra wouldn't dissolve itself instantly to escape into the rock crevice like this one did. It would have stayed human for as long as possible. Plus, Kandra aren't that maleable, they can take several minutes to hours to shift forms, even if that shift is just thinning yourself out to fit in a crack. Shallan even says "Can a person look that much like a shadow?" whilst chasing them. I also don't think it's a dysian Aimian as it would have just disassembled and escaped in pieces. What I believe is that this is a Spren of Odium that is serving an Unmade. I don't think it's the actual Unmade itself as it seems to be rather... weak for simply an Unmade. If Unmade were as easy to defeat as simply catching a creepy looking dude, the desolations would have ended a long time ago. I think this Spren is on the level of the Red Spren that became a Thunderclast or the Midnight Essences, infact this may actually BE a Midnight Essence and Shallan is currently having to deal with Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother. A wierd moment occurs when Shallan first enters the room with all the exits, where a dozen versions of herself run into the room and disappear as they catch up to her. I'm not sure this is something Shallan did on purpose, is the stormlight around her fragmenting on it's own to reflect her own mind fragmenting? I really like the ventilation room cause it actually answers a question I had for Brandon. When you get a lot of people into any sort of enclosed space, it gets really hot really quickly. Heck, we have whole industries on Earth right now dedicated to getting rid of the heat generated by crowds of people and we still struggle. I've been wondering how Urithiru does it so it's nice to know that Brandon is taking these things into consideration. Description of the thing: Shallan transforms from Radiant to Veil and chases after the thing. It seems she barely even notices she turns into Veil and also forgets it when she finds Rock. Rock's been stabbed through the hand. Looks like this Spren is copying wounds as well as murders. This is another reason I think this is a Spren. I think there is more than one of these things about. There's so far been no correlation between where Sadeas was murdered and this market. It's not following Shallan or Adolin, Sadeas's murder wasn't anything to do with Shallan and the barkeeps murder wasn't anything to do with either of them. This still seems like a very wierd way for an Unmade to sow chaos but who knows, maybe it can only act if it's copying? We are then introduced to Ishnah who we met on the night Veil went out drinking as the woman who didn't say anything at the table of guards for Alls Alley. Ishnah is interested in the Ghostbloods and due to this interaction, she's going on the Might Be Vivenna list. Walking to Urithiru - Part 14 - Chapter 26 and 27 Chapter 26 - Blackthorn Unleashed Start this chapter with Evi and Dalinar hanging out Fun fact, in this chapter, Dalinar refers to Jezrien as Jezrien instead of the Vorin name Jezerezeh. Brandon has already confirmed this is a mistake and will be changed in the Audiobook, ebook and any subsequent printings. So make sure you guys keep hold of your first edition, dalinar-says-jezrien versions! They'll be collectors items one day! Not that we won't be the ones collecting... We see that Evi is clearly way more interested in this relationship than Dalinar. This supports the claim of "killing someone who loved me dearly" in the preface Dalinar preps for the battle ahead and mentions that Evi still owns her plate. Strange that she owns it and not her brother Toh At this point, I should mention that I believe that Toh will die before Evi. The complete lack of him or even any mention of him is suspicious to me We learn that Ryshadium also bond MusicSpren of all things. We know they have a Gemheart like most creatures on Roshar, but I really do wonder about MusicSpren, something related to the Rhythms maybe? Also find it interesting that the response is simply "They travel this far east?", for some reason I expected them to live in Shin like the other horses, but it makes sense that if they are more suited for Rosharan life, then they'll be found more commonly across the crabby part of Roshar Dalinar mentions the Thrill having a Rhythm to it again. I really do think the Thrill is simply opening someone up to a Rhythm somehow. But we also know from Way of Kings that there are different Thrills. There is the Thrill of Contest for duels and such and the Thrill of war, which is the feeling from mass slaughter we see Dalinar get. We don't know Nergaouls true ability but it may be that this is it. Sow chaos by opening people up to Rhythms that make them fight more. Nergaoul may be doing this on purpose for reasons we don't understand. Dalinar submitting to the Thrill here has his vision going red, everything stopping him from fighting becomes painful to his ears. My main theory of the night Evi died has always been Dalinar, cutting his way through a city full of rebellion to get to Evi whom he kills in the process. This, plus his accidental killing of Kholin forces, reinforces that theory in my opinion At this point, Kadash is still a captain in Dalinars guard. The event that occurs in Rathalas that made Kadash fall to his knees, wretching and leave being a soldier has yet to happen yet. This man just walked through a slaughter of hundreds and is barely fazed. What the hell did Dalinar do? To end this chapter, we have Dalinar, in the midst of the Thrill, goes to attack Gavilar but ends up coming to his senses before he does. Imagine a Stormlight Archive if Dalinar had killed Gavilar that day... Chapter 27 - Playing Pretend This chapter starts with Shallan hanging out with the all the political people Pattern even says it's a spren of Odium! The cities going dark is very scary. I feel like this is a bigger issue than they are currently making it. Cities going dark with all their spanreeds taken out will cause HUGE issues in terms of communication and logistics. It's like if every radio in an area went out, you'd basically be completely blind. Generally, the simplest explanation for this is it's something a voidspren can do. Other than that, not much else to go on. I'm wondering if this "army" is actually attacking Marat or if it's just passing through on it's way to Kholinar. It's got quite the distance to go Shallan works out some of the stuff we worked out, this is a mimic at play. She also starts drawing Sadeas without a specific Memory in mind, how long till she draws Adolin killing Sadeas? More Malata! Her Spren is called Spark, an interesting name. I've long suspected that Releaser spren are the higher version of FlameSpren, like HonorSpren are to WindSpren. Spark is a rather fun name. I wonder if they are DestructionSpren or something more clever... Apparently they like to break things to find out what's inside them Malata suggests not refounding the Radiants as they were before. I think she raises a good point, we've spent so much time focussed on the old Radiants and Urithiru, but why would the new Orders have to abide by this? I'm also certain that we will find out the secret that broke the Radiants in this book, it's been mentioned too many times in the book and in the extra material to not be an important plot point of this novel. If this secret is known before the Radiants become solidified, can a new Knights Radiant be created with this knowledge in mind? She also seems a bit dismissive of the Everstorm. Maybe this isn't a Desolation? Maybe this is something completely different? Shallan calls her annoying, I find Malata endlessly fascinating Ialai and Amaram turn up so that Ialai can declare Amaram regent. What I found odd is that she also names him heir. This basically means the Sadeas house is no more, it's now the Amaram Princedom. Is he heir to Ialai? Heir to the nephew? This is very odd, Ialai basically just commited political suicide Unless Ialai plans on marrying Amaram? And here we have Adolin blowing the lid off the Kaladin-Heleran connection. Shallan immediately shuts it out. I'm surprised she didn't become another persona to get away from it. Also, Adolin tells Shallan this, she very clearly is disturbed by it and instead of consoling her or talking about it, he wants to know why her brother wanted to kill Amaram. I think there's a reason Adolin isn't very successful with women I'm also thinking that if Adolin has revealed this information, either Mraize has lost his edge over Shallan or the Heleran information is something far juicier And then we have Shallan discovering the drawings she didn't draw. I'm not sure if she drew these. It seems strange that pattern doesn't remember her drawing them. I've seen someone suggest maybe it was the MimicSpren, that's what I've decided to call it, but that's able to mimic perfectly. It seems odd it would just scribble randomly. If it's not the MimicSpren, Shallan has started to forget things she's actually doing. I'm really enjoying watching Shallans descent into madness. Also her fifth Oath is so totally going to be "I am Shallan Davar" And we end with Shallan recruiting the Shallads to get up to some mischief. I'm assuming she's going to get them to fight someone or something then wait around to see if it gets repeated. Walking to Urithiru - Part 15 - Chapter 28 Prefaces: "I am the monster I fear we all can become" - I think my assumption from a few episodes ago still rings true. Whoever wrote this did something BAD and this account is to try and get people to understand what they did and why. This is a framing device. The last two chapters next week are going to confirm 2 things, something horrible to come and that Dalinar is responsible, then whilst reading Oathbringer, we're going to have that ever present dread of "What is it Dalinar did?" Chapter 28 - Another Option I almost forgot this chapter even happened cause 29 and 30 are so goooood We open with Azir declaring that the Oathgate in Azimir is going to be locked away until it can be destroyed. If you don't remember, Azimir was one of the cities negotiating with the transformed Parshmen. Looks like they've come to an agreement. Super happy that the Urithiru ventilation is getting a lot of attention. Urithiru is basically a science fiction Arcology, a city in a building. Years ago I helped some people try and work out some calculations about the feasability of creating a real life arcology. The main issues we found were the structural integrity of the center and accumulation of heat so I really am happy to see this addressed. I won't mention Urithiru's ventilation again... Dalinar knows about the "MimicSpren" and goes to check one of the vents in the room. He sticks a chair to a wall. Some people thought that the Surges manifested in fundamentally diferent ways between different orders but it really does seem like Adhesion works the same for Dalinar as it does Kaladin. Queen Fen also denies Dalinar with an air of finality and Dalinar takes a walk to clear his mind. Lyn comes to find Dalinar and let him know Bridge Four has found something. I had actually thought the Ghostbloods would have found this by now as it seems like the kind of thing they'd so but turns out Oathbringer hadn't been found any anyone. Makes sense, as it can't be easy to notice since the thing had sunk all the way into the stone Now, the screams of the Spren are interesting. I feel like people are going to dive on this for Adolin reviving his blade but it does seem, even in their dead screaming form, the Sprenblades still listen and remember what happens around them. Stormfather says he doesn't know of a way to revive Blades, once again another example of a character asking a question that I see asked a lot by the community, but I mean, stormzy doesn't know everything We get another mention of the secret that caused the Recreance. Again, I definitely think we are going to find out that secret in this book. Dalinar gives Oathbringer back to Ialai and they have an exchange which I really liked. Ialai really doesn't think that Dalinar killed Sadeas The rest of this chapter is just some wonderful philosophising. Amaram accuses Dalinar of being a hypocrite for standing on the corpses of thousands and then judging Amaram for killing just 4 men. Dalinar and Taravangian then have a discussion on God and what is right. Dalinar says he still feels there is a god. He has felt the warmth beyond. Whether this is referring to the actual beyond or Adonalsium, we can't know. We then get to hear another story from Nohadons walk to Urithiru, on our trip walking to Urithiru. It's about 3 farmers seen killing a man, but there were 4 farmers in the town. What would you do, if there is no way to determine the guilty from the innocent? How many innocent lives are worth a guilty one? How many are you willing to kill to save? Man, Dalinar really needs those Skybreakers backing him up... I really like the line about a hypocrite is simply someone in the process of changing. The Stormfather mentions an incredibly useful ability. He can show visions to whomever he chooses and ALSO have Dalinar appear in them if he wants. I actually thought this was about to lead to a SHOW EVERYONE THE VISIONS thing but he's just starting with Queen Fen. I had assumed that someone has to act a certain way to be considered a Bondsmith and have the Stormfather show them visions but no, I think he's free to pick and choose at will I wonder if both Dalinar and Tanavast will appear in these visions, or if Dalinar will take Tanavasts place. This also kind of solves the spanreed issue I was talking about last time. Instant communication is super helpful and for now, this will allow Dalinar to basically speak to whoever he wants to in the world. Its a helluva ability And that's it, thanks!
  8. I was pondering RAFOs, and wondering if and how it might be possible to derive useful information from them. I realized a few things, which are pretty obvious. 1. It's significantly easier to derive information from RAFOd yes/no questions than from RAFOd questions with more than two answers. 2. If the answer to a question has no/very little significance, Brandon is unlikely to RAFO it, no matter what the answer, because it won't affect the plot and is less likely to be revealed in a book. 3. If the answer to a question is extremely significant, Brandon is extremely likely to RAFO it, no matter what the answer, because it will affect the plot and is more likely to be revealed in a book. 4. If a question is confirming/denying only one theory from a large pool of theories, Brandon is less likely to RAFO it. 5. If the answer to such a question is no, Brandon is less likely to RAFO it than if the answer is yes. This is because removing one theory from a pool is less significant than removing all theories from a pool. So, using only this information, on average more questions that are RAFOd will turn out to be true than false. The margin expands when we narrow the parameters to "yes/no questions that refer only to one theory out of a pool". However, it's likely that Brandon knows this, and RAFOs more questions than he might otherwise, in order to make it more difficult to analyze. As such, more information is needed to fully analyze RAFOs. I haven't been around here that long, so I don't know much about which questions were RAFOd. So I need help. If anyone remembers any questions that were originally RAFOd, but were later answered by some means, could you post them? If all goes well, I hope to be able to find a pattern among the data which will help determine the quality of evidence provided by RAFOs.
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